


A Trail of Hope

by Naramis



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, F/F, Feels, Fluff, Lesbian Sex, Smut, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 16:38:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10723161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naramis/pseuds/Naramis
Summary: Being Pathfinder takes its toll as Sara Ryder is plagued by her inner demons. Thankfully, she's not alone in this.





	A Trail of Hope

Sara Ryder turns onto her back for what feels like the fiftieth time tonight, her eyes shooting open in horror. Her heart is beating fast, and she can feel her whole body has tensed up. Cold sweat has collected on her face, making her damp strands stick to her skin.

Breathing audibly, she sighs in despair. Is she ever going to get some sleep tonight? The images aren’t leaving her alone, and sadly this isn’t the first time it has happened, but by far the worst. It’s so vivid… as if it was happening all over again… Dad, Scott... her _own death._

That last “experience” really didn’t help. Not at all. It was only three days ago that SAM had to actually kill her for a short time to give them the chance they needed to escape the Archon’s ship. _I was dead. I left Pathfinder Raeka behind… I left the salarians behind._

Sitting up, she’s holding her head as guilt claws at her heart. _I left people to die, yet I live… how’s that fair? HOW’S THAT FAIR?_

She feels like screaming, screaming it all out. But it’s stuck; she can’t. She looks over to her bedside table, and right now the idea of holding her gun gives her a strange feeling of comfort, of safety. She reaches over and takes her pistol, thumb brushing over the cold material.

She gets up, walking a few steps on the cold floor. Holding the Carnifex in both hands, she aims at the door, at an imaginary enemy. She’s just staring blankly, and for a moment it’s all fine. She’s in control. And she’s actually feeling a bit better.

Her face contorts in horror when she hears a familiar voice… _kett._ Her eyebrows raise in shock, her body tensing when she sees one of their soldiers walking into her sight, his gun at the ready. Ryder prepares for the worst; her hand moves to her gun’s safety to remove it as she aims at her enemy.

When the kett looks at her, preparing to fire, her finger moves to the trigger-

“Dad?” She can’t quite believe her eyes. The kett soldier is gone, and in his place she can clearly see Alec Ryder in his armour, approaching her slowly. Shaky hands secure her gun, taking it down. Sadness starts spreading in her chest. She knows this can’t be real. _He’s dead._

“Sara. You’re the Pathfinder now, I need you to hold out… your people, they are relying on you.”

It’s at this point that she loses control of her emotions, of everything. Sobbing, she drops to her knees, clutching onto her Carnifex. “I can’t, dad… I just can’t. I’ve given it my all…” Tears are running down her cheeks uncontrollably, her sobbing the only thing filling the silent room.

“It’s too much.” She looks at the image of her dad, expecting him to answer, to guide her.

“If you can’t run from it, use it,” Alec says, and then he’s gone. Just like that, gone.

She rubs her eyes, but it doesn’t bring him back. Ryder lets go of her gun, covering her face as she sobs. She has rarely felt this helpless, this broken. _Broken._ The word echoes in her head.

She twitches when SAMs voice speaks to her, “Pathfinder, may I suggest you speak to Dr. T’Perro in the morning? I am monitoring high levels of stress, and you show strong signs of mental instability.”

Ryder lets out a dry laugh, voice trembling, “No shit, Sherlock.”

“I don’t quite understand.”

The reaction makes her smile slightly. Sometimes she nearly forgets SAM is just an AI and doesn’t always understand phrases like that. “Never mind. Yes, I’ll go to her in the morning.” She means it, she knows she needs help with this… she can’t bear it alone, it’s clear as day to her now.

“But what do I do now…?” Ryder knows she needs comfort _now_ , someone to talk to, anyone. Heck, right now she’d even talk to Addison about it. That’s how desperate she’s feeling.

“I scanned the ship, Pathfinder. Dr. Anwar is currently sitting on Deck 3, at the vidcon terminal.”

Suvi? Despite the horrible state she’s in, Ryder is feeling a little relieved. Tempest’s science officer, and… her girlfriend. She couldn’t have hoped for anyone better to speak to. In fact, she had secretly been hoping for Suvi to be available somehow, as unrealistic as this is in the middle of the night.

“Thank you, SAM.” Ryder gets up off the floor, picking up her pistol from the floor. She puts it back in her drawer and swiftly wipes away her tears before making her way to Suvi.

 

* * *

 

 

Still a bit shaky and fuzzy in her head, Ryder finally reaches the stairs that lead up to Deck 3. She can spot Suvi sitting on one of the sofas there as she makes her way up. The scientist is holding a mug – tea, she assumes – in her hand and a datapad in the other. _Working on something, no doubt._ She knows how much the cute redhead loves science.

“Hey, you.” Ryder says with a bit of a weak voice as she walks towards her girlfriend.

Suvi’s eyebrows move up when she sees Ryder, and she gasps. “Sara… what happened?” Her expression changes, surprise giving way to concern and worry as the scientist immediately puts down everything and gets up to approach Ryder.

 _I must look worse than I thought._ Sara tries to crack a smile, but she doesn’t quite manage, resulting in an odd-looking grimace at best.

But it’s okay because Suvi’s right here now, and instead of waiting for an answer to her question, she just understands that Ryder needs her now and draws her into a tight hug.

Ryder can feel the weight easing off her shoulders as she lets herself fall into Suvi’s protective arms. For the first time tonight, she feels like there is a bit of hope, like she can actually do it.

The images are still there, and she knows she’ll need to talk about it, but for now she’s happy to just have her girlfriend hold her. Ryder rests her head on her shoulder, sighing. It’s always all about her, the Pathfinder, protecting everyone, taking the lead, finding solutions. But right now, _she’s_ the one who needs protection, for once.

Wrapping her arms tighter around her girlfriend, Ryder whispers, “I’m a crap Pathfinder, Suvi.” She takes a deep breath as guilt washes over her, voice shaking, “I left people to die on that ship…”

She’s sobbing again now, despite her best efforts to stop the tears, to keep them in to not fully show how shattered she _actually_ is. But why…? She trusts Suvi, and despite their relationship being quite young she knows she can trust her to be there for her. But… can she take it? Does she want to burden her with this?

Images force their way into her mind before she can answer that question. The Archon, standing before her as she watches helplessly, then forcing a syringe into her neck before leaving her hanging there.

“… _if you expire…”_ SAM’s voice _._ It’s so real. One second she’s here with Suvi, the next she’s hanging there and SAM kills her. And then it’s all dark. She’s dead. Dead. She did it without any guarantee that it would work, that she could be revived. No, even worse; she did it without _considering_ anyone.

 _I left my crew behind. I left Suvi behind._ Her eyes widen at the sudden realisation. _I didn’t say anything to her, not a single word._ Ryder moves to look at Suvi, tears still running freely, “I left _you_ behind.”

And she didn’t even bother to properly talk about this with the woman she calls her girlfriend. _Why?_

“I didn’t say goodbye to you…”

Ryder focuses intently on her now, and she’s so sure those beautiful blue eyes didn’t look quite so glazed over a minute ago. Suvi opens her mouth to speak, but she gently places her finger on her lips before she has a chance. She needs to say what she didn’t say aboard the Archon’s ship, now.

“Suvi… I’m so sorry about everything. I was caught in the moment, I was selfish and I just didn’t think.” She cradles her cheek now as she sees a tear break loose and run down the redhead’s face. _I hurt her._

“I- …” She gulps. Ryder knows what she wants to say, what her heart screams for her to say, but she’s worried it’s too soon. Her thumb brushes over Suvi’s cheek as her other arm wraps tighter around her.

“I love you, Suvi.” It comes out as nearly a whisper, but no less emotional than she wanted it to. Warmth spreads in her heart when a smile appears on Suvi’s lips. The redhead leans in to unite their lips in a passionate kiss. It’s all the answer Ryder needs. She sighs into her lips as her feelings take over, kicking out those tormenting thoughts, to be replaced by that warmth, by _love_.

Suvi puts her hands around her neck as they deepen their connection, their lips conveying all their feelings without a single word being said. Ryder knows she needs to make up so much to her, but she feels like this is a good start. She smiles into the kiss.

They break apart eventually, all the sadness from Suvi’s eyes disappeared now, and Ryder’s glad about it. She, too, feels so much better, so much… lighter. _The wonders of love._ She knows she never wants to miss this again in her life.

“Sara… I wanted to say something.” The scientist pauses before quickly, briefly pressing her lips onto the Pathfinder’s. “I don’t think you’re a bad Pathfinder. You’ve already activated so many vaults, making planets viable for outposts, you helped us scientists so much understanding the Heleus Cluster, “- Ryder notices the sparkle in her eyes – “and you make decisions that others can’t make. All the time.”

She pauses, bringing her hand up to brush a strand from Ryder’s face. “And sometimes even you can’t save them all.” Suvi smiles now, a bit sheepishly, Ryder thinks, but it only makes her more adorable. “It doesn’t make you any less my hero.”

Ryder looks away as a familiar heat creeps into her cheeks, but then Suvi chuckles and regains all her attention. “Okay, maybe that was a tad cheesy.”

Ryder can’t help but chuckle herself now. “Still cute, though.”

They fall into a comfortable silence, eyes meeting, looking away, then meeting again. That is, until Ryder has to yawn.

“Someone needs to get some sleep, I’d say,” the scientist smiles, only to break out into a yawn herself.

Ryder chuckles, “Guess you too.” She’s glad she’s feeling so much better now, but her heart still drops at the implication of going back to her room on her own. She doesn’t want to. She wants Suvi with her, at her side as they both drift to sleep.

She licks her lips, “Hey, you wanna sleep at my quarters tonight?” She hopes this doesn’t come across the wrong way now; as much as she has fantasised about sex with her girlfriend, this is not what she’s after. Not yet, anyway.

But Suvi understands, she knows that Ryder needs comfort now. “I would like that, yeah. Let me get changed and I’ll come up in a minute.”

Soon after, they find themselves in Ryder’s bed. Ryder suddenly feels a bit shy, but Suvi takes the initiative as she moves closer and draws the woman into a tight hug. She likes that, how Suvi makes her feel so at ease, so comfortable, so _safe_.

Ryder smiles, kissing her temple. “Thank you, Suvi. For everything,” she whispers and feels soft lips place a timid kiss onto her cheek. “You’re welcome.”

 

* * *

 

 

“Pathfinder, your physical evaluation with Dr. T’Perro is scheduled for 10.30. You have one hour.”

Frowning, Ryder turns on her back, forcing her eyes open. She’s still feeling _so_ sleepy, even though she’s normally already long up at these hours. “Thank you, SAM.”

She twitches, nearly leaning over to draw her gun out of pure instinct when she hears shuffling next to her. But then last night comes back to her memory, and she shakes her head with a smile. _Of course._

Ryder turns over to face her girlfriend, only to find sleepy half-open blue eyes looking back at her, a lazy smile on the redhead’s face. “Morning, Sara.”

She doesn’t quite know why, but Ryder’s feeling incredibly thankful and a little bit relieved that Suvi’s still there, with her, as if she could have gotten up at night and just left her on her own.

But she didn’t. She stayed. And Ryder knows what she wants to do more than anything in the world, so she inches closer to her girlfriend and wraps her arms tightly around her, breathing in her sweet scent as she leans in.

“Mhhh… can you read minds, Sara?” Still sleepy, Suvi reciprocates, placing her hands on Ryder’s hips, nuzzling into her neck.

Ryder smiles, softly stroking over the redhead’s back. _She’s so warm, so cosy._ “Maybe…”

“How long do we have?” Suvi asks, placing a gentle kiss on Ryder’s shoulder.

“A bit less than an hour. Got an evaluation with Lexi,” Ryder sighs. No one aboard the Tempest likes those very much, and she’s really no exception. Especially not today. She has to open up to Lexi about her recent problems, and she knows it won’t be easy.

The blankets shuffle as Suvi moves to make eye contact, “It’s going to be okay. I’m sure of it.” _That smile._ Ryder feels warmth spread through her body, the love in those eyes, in that smile mesmerising her entirely. _It’s going to be okay._

She’s so stunned, she nearly doesn’t register how close Suvi’s face is to hers all of a sudden. Their lips are mere inches away, the kiss practically lingering in the air. Ryder can’t resist; she seals their lips, sighing at the contact. _I can’t get enough of you._

She presses close to Suvi, needing to feel her, needing to give her all the love she has to offer. The scientist goes along readily, pushing her hips into Ryder’s, hands softly stroking up and down the Pathfinder’s back.

Their kiss deepens, and Ryder loses herself in the moment, everything around her turning into a meaningless fuzzy blur as she’s captivated by those soft lips moving against her own, so gently yet with undeniable passion. It’s only Suvi and her that matter now.

Steadily, she can feel herself being consumed by the kiss, the air turning thick and hot as a familiar heat flares up in her body, quickly spreading to conquer every inch of her. It seems like all the sexual tension that has accumulated over the last days, weeks is rushing into her body right now, as if to force her hand to take the next step. Not that she’d need to be forced.

Ryder’s face momentarily contorts in disappointment when Suvi breaks away from her, but it’s quickly forgotten when their eyes meet and clearly dilated pupils stare back at her.

Suvi’s eyes drift down to her lips for a split second before returning to Ryder’s eyes, “I want you, Sara.” Her voice is low, ridden with desire, and Ryder can’t – won’t – stop herself as she drags her into a heated kiss, her hand possessively latching onto the redhead’s hip.

She shudders when Suvi slips her hand under her tank top, slowly dragging her nails over bare skin. _God, you’re so-_

“Pathfinder, may I remind you that Dr. T’Perro expects you in her med bay in 30 minutes.”

Ryder grunts in displeasure, breaking away from Suvi, who looks equally annoyed. “Tell her to change the schedule, SAM. I’m busy, uhm, filing this report.”

Without any further delay, they resume the kiss. Ryder goes along willingly when Suvi pulls her on top of her-

“Pathfinder, Dr. T’Perro says, I quote, that you should ‘come up with a better excuse next time’.”

Ryder buries her head in Suvi’s shoulder, sighing in frustration. Right now, she wishes she hadn’t used lame excuses so often in the past to be able to skip evaluation. Lexi clearly had had enough of it.

She looks up to Suvi, a quizzical look on her face. She doesn’t want to stop, but what can they do? Her eyebrows raise when a small, almost impish smile appears on her lover’s lips.

“SAM? Tell Lexi that the Pathfinder is currently engaging in very important… activities to improve her well-being and that I’ll kick her ass down to med bay personally later.”

Ryder chuckles at that, grinning when her and Suvi make eye contact. “Activities to improve my well-being… really?”

The redhead has to chuckle herself now. She slowly, seductively drags her nails down Ryder’s back, eyes not leaving her Pathfinder alone for a moment, “Well, I’m not wrong… right?”

Ryder’s eyes fall shut at the sensation, her body unconsciously pressing into her lover’s touch. “Definitely not,” she sighs, hoping, no, _praying_ that Suvi’s counter was good enough and SAM will leave them alone now, because she doesn’t know how long she can hold out.

But then soft lips meet hers in a hungry kiss, a tsunami of desire washing over her, and she frankly doesn’t care anymore. She’s going to stay here, with Suvi, and no one can do anything about it.

They’re only forced to separate briefly to discard Ryder’s tank top, her bra following right after. Ryder feels her heart flutter when she notices Suvi staring at her, taking in the sight with hungry eyes.

The Pathfinder moves to straddle her, and Suvi sits up to help as Ryder’s hands hurriedly move to take off the scientist’s top.

Ryder gasps, eyes closing in pleasure when she feels Suvi’s hot touch on her breasts. It’s nearly driving her crazy already, working her up more and more with every passing second. It’s sweet agony, really, and despite her growing impatience Ryder savours every moment, pressing her chest into the touch. She’s been longing for this so long…

“Mhhh…,” Ryder hums when lips latch onto a nipple and suck gently at first, then harder, eliciting a moan from the Pathfinder as her hips buck forward out of their own, then fall into an erratic rhythm, a desperate grind against Suvi’s hips.

But she needs more, she needs to feel Suvi’s naked skin against hers. Her hands blindly search for the bra clasp and with one swift movement open it. Suvi reluctantly breaks away from Ryder’s breasts to discard the garment, eyes meeting right after, an encounter of desire and primal need. She could’ve sworn the air was on fire.

She lets herself be pushed back onto the bed as Ryder repositions herself on top of her, placing a leg between Suvi’s. Ryder presses herself against her, moving in for her neck. Her breath hitches in her throat when she softly bites Suvi’s ear lobe, eliciting a moan. _Damn…_ She can’t wait to hear how she sounds when she fucks her…

It spurs her on further as she kisses her way down, further down till she reaches her breasts, hands immediately finding their way onto her head and shoulder, edging her on as she circles a hard nipple with her tongue while running her hands down her body, possessively gripping her hips.

Suvi’s writhing under her now, and Ryder’s getting needy herself. Depraved images are flooding her mind, driving her crazier with every ongoing second … one moment she’s going down on Suvi, the next her fingers are buried deep within her as she fucks her senseless…

She moves away from her lover’s breasts, immediately finding herself being drawn into a heated kiss, moaning into the contact as a tongue enters her impatiently. She can’t take it anymore. She needs to have Suvi, and quickly. Blindly reaching down, she finds her waistband, quickly moving off her to pull her pants and panties down in one go.

But she isn’t given the chance to take in the astonishing view long, as Suvi is eager to get her stripped too, lunging forward to relieve Ryder of her undergarments in a swift movement.

 _Wow._ Ryder can’t believe her eyes when she looks down at Suvi, taking in all her naked beauty. Deep blue eyes stare back up at her, examining her body closely, like one of her science projects, just with an expression of unadulterated lust reminding Ryder that she’s far more than that.

“You’re so beautiful.” The words leave her mouth without thinking as Ryder moves to place herself between Suvi’s legs, and they both let out a sigh when their fully nude bodies make contact. It’s _so_ good.

Suvi wraps her arms and legs around Ryder, keeping her right where she is. She can feel her heart race with excitement and joy, joy to finally be so close to the woman she loves.

Ryder closes the distance between their lips, but this kiss is different than the ones before: it almost has a calm feel to it as their lips move in a slow rhythm, sharing love and devotion, and Ryder smiles into the kiss when Suvi starts gently, lovingly stroking up and down her back, giving extra care to the scars she encounters on her way. _I love you._

When they break apart, Suvi nearly gasps in awe at the deep love she sees in those aqua eyes, making her heart jump with happiness. It only furthers her need to feel all of the Pathfinder, _her_ Pathfinder. “Sara…”

Ryder understands; she, too, is feeling her desire slowly boil over, pooling in her core like molten lava. She gasps when hands reach down to her bottom, pushing her hips up against Suvi’s as the latter starts grinding against them.

They fall into a fast-paced rhythm, sealing their lips in a smouldering lip lock, tongues exploring each other’s mouths eagerly, desperately. Ryder cradles her face, moaning into the kiss as their grind turns erratic, needy.

She gasps as they break apart, already missing Suvi’s lips, “Let me touch you.” It’s more a statement of what she’s going to do than a plea for permission; she knows, _sees_ that Suvi is more than willing if her lustful gaze and the heat emanating from her core are any indication.

Suvi can only nod, voice taken away by her own excitement.

Reluctantly, Ryder repositions for better access, already craving the feel of her scientist’s naked body snug against hers as she’s forced to settle for less to make room for her hand, straddling Suvi’s leg.

But it’s worth it. Muscles twitch in her wake as Ryder slowly, deliberately trails her hand down soft skin, further down until Suvi’s eyes fall shut as soon as Ryder trails over trimmed hair, then lower to her-

“Mhhh…”

Hands latch onto her shoulders as Ryder gently spreads the folds, coating her fingers with the slick wetness before she starts massaging the bundle of nerves in between, eliciting a gasp, then a soft moan. _You drive me crazy._

But it’s Ryder who gasps when suddenly, a hand finds its way to her chin to draw her into a passionate kiss. Suvi’s on fire, and it only spurs her on as she rubs more vigorously now.

Ryder reaches up to find Suvi’s hand, lacing their fingers in a strong grip.

Suvi’s world is turning all blurry as she gives herself completely to Ryder, losing herself in the pleasure to a point where she only cares about her Pathfinder and herself anymore as her hips uncontrollably twitch whenever her lover rubs right _there_ , driving her crazier with every ongoing second.

But she needs more, she wants to feel Ryder inside her. Reluctantly, she breaks away from Ryder’s sweet lips, only to sloppily kiss her way to her ear, panting heavily, “I want to feel you _more_ , Sara… mhhh- please.” It sounds far more desperate than she intended it to, what with all the panting and moaning, but she’s long past caring at this point, especially when she looks up and sees a surge of primal want take over Ryder’s eyes.                           

And then it all goes so fast when her hand trails down in one swift movement, briefly teasing her entrance before pushing two fingers inside, Suvi’s hips bucking in need at the welcome intrusion.

Ryder gasps at the sensation of the snug walls contracting around her, and _God,_ she knows she wants to savour this but patience has never been her strong suit, only showing when she immediately starts thrusting fast and hard, Suvi’s hips readily following her rhythm.

“Ohh… Sara- Fuck!”

Something in Ryder snaps as she hears Suvi swear like that, sending a jolt of heat directly down to her already flaming core. Eyes meet, conveying all the unadulterated want that’s making the air feel so thick, so hot. Lips clash, swallowing Suvi’s passionate moans as Ryder goes harder, faster, feeling her tighten around her.

This is making her go absolutely mad, and she won’t – or can’t? – stop herself as she presses her hips closer to Suvi’s leg to start a needy grind against her, feeling the redhead clamp heavily around her fingers.

Suvi showing her in no unclear terms just how much this is turning her on nearly pushes Ryder over the edge herself right then, forcing her to break the kiss as a moan escapes her. Her eyes fall shut as all she can focus on is how her fingers are moving in, and out, and in again and again in quick successions, pleasuring, no, _fucking_ Suvi.

She’s so concentrated, she barely notices as the redhead untangles her hand from hers, but is paying it no heed. All she can think of is how tight Suvi’s becoming, walls clamping-

“Ohh!” her eyes shoot open, and she tries to look outraged, but her hips are betraying her as they eagerly push into the hand between her legs.

But she has other ways for “payback”. Mustering all her force, Ryder prepares for a final onslaught, pounding into Suvi hard.

“Ahhh, Sara…,” Suvi moans, voice nearly breaking, “Don’t stop…” Her hand latches onto Ryder’s shoulder, pulling her closer to her, eyes full of unbridled lust meeting.

“Only- ohh- if you don’t.” Ryder’s voice is a broken mess, moans forcing their way out of her mouth more with every ongoing second and every stroke over her clit. She’s getting so close herself…

A string of loud moans leaves Suvi as her eyes shut and she’s pushed over the edge, losing herself in the pleasure that’s overwhelming her with nearly brutal force. She’s riding it out on Ryder’s fingers until the last wave has washed over her and Ryder pulls out.

For a few moments it’s almost quiet, only both their panting filling the room.

When she reopens her eyes, Suvi finds Ryder looking right at her, an expression on her face that could probably best be described as a wild mix of deep love and feral lust, but all over the place as if she couldn’t quite decide which one’s more important… or urgent.

She smiles, but it’s Ryder who finds her voice first, “You’re perfect.”

Suvi’s response comes fast but in different shape than Ryder expected. Her hips buck in need as Suvi’s hand returns to touch her, not wasting any time as fast strokes quickly bring back the pleasure to Ryder, who places one hand on the headboard, one on her lover’s shoulder for support. She knows she’ll need it.

“God…”

Heart pounding in her chest, Ryder can feel her climax approaching like a hurricane, ready to sweep her off her feet. She’s ready, eyes boring into Suvi’s with uncontained passion, nearly making her come right then when the scientist returns the fiery look, then brings up her free hand to her breast, groping briefly, then moving in for the kill, pinching her nipple with just the right amount of force.

“Ohh, yesss…” And that’s it. Pleasure takes over the whole of her body, her back arching as she grinds against Suvi’s hand hard. She’s clawing onto her lover’s shoulder hard enough to leave marks, muscles tensing up as release ripples through her.

She eventually falls on top of Suvi, spent, arms moving to wrap around the Pathfinder immediately.

When Ryder eventually comes back to the world of the living, she shifts to make eye contact with Suvi, who has a loving smile on her lips. Ryder’s face lights up as she smiles herself.

“That was amazing,” Suvi half whispers, hand moving up to brush a strand of hair from Ryder’s face. She can’t recall when was the last time she felt that happy, that _loved._ And that’s a good thing; Ryder makes her happy like no one did before.

“Very.” She smiles when Ryder slowly leans in to kiss her gently, skin tingling. Ryder loves her, and she loves Ryder. No one can do anything about it. Not the kett, not the Archon, no one.

 

* * *

_Sometime later…_

 

Smiling like an idiot - a very happy idiot - Ryder makes her way to the med bay for her physical evaluation.

She finds Lexi sitting at her table, intently studying a datapad.

“Hey,” she says, leaning against the wall as the door behind her shuts with a hiss.

Lexi turns, eyebrows rising. “There you are.” She puts the pad down, getting up and towards Ryder.

“Have fun, Ryder?” she asks, smirking slightly.

 _Wait, what? Lexi smirking?_ Ryder opens her mouth to reply, but her face must’ve already said it all.

The asari chuckles, “Didn’t think I’d react that way? Come on, Ryder, I’ve had my fair share of adventures back in the Milky Way.”

No, it really isn’t surprising. Ryder isn’t sure what she was thinking, and to be honest, she didn’t really think Lexi would mention it at all. Oh well.

So Ryder just shrugs with a nonchalant smile on her lips, “Fair enough,” and makes her way over to the medical bed.

Lexi follows her, starting to study her omni-tool for Ryder’s medical data as she stands before her. Ryder can only wait, thoughts quickly drifting away to a cute redhead and to the time they’d shared this morning. She smiles.

They meet eyes, and Lexi, too smiles kindly at the Pathfinder. “You know, I’m happy for you two.”

Ryder nods in approval. “Thank you. She makes me very happy.”

Finishing with her omni-tool, Lexi turns to Ryder, “Oh, I can see that.” She smiles again for a moment before her face turns more serious as she leans against the medical bed opposite Ryder.

“However, SAM has also informed me that you are under a lot of stress lately and that you wanted to talk to me about it.”

 _Oh yeah, that._ Somehow, Ryder had hoped this wouldn’t come up, but she knew all along that it had to, she couldn’t ignore it as much as she wanted to.

She sighs, leaning back on her hands. _This’ll take a while…_

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic for Andromeda, hope you enjoyed! Haven't written any fics in a while, only taking it up again now; Suvi and Ryder are just too damn cute together, they need more love :D
> 
> Anyway, let me add that English isn't my native language, so please forgive any mistakes you find :) Thanks for reading!


End file.
